Middle Grade author Beth Anna Cook

Spring ILC, Week 5: Panic

How is the quarter half over already? And why does that happen every single quarter?

This week was another tough one. On Wednesday morning on my way to work, I had a panic attack on the bus and had to go home sick, losing all potential productivity for the day. I sometimes feel like I’m juggling too many things (Homework is due for class. Don’t forget Mother’s Day. Yep, still gotta wait to hear back about the job. Oh goody, an ulcer. It’s a beautiful day, I should get outside and exercise. Should I get an iPad?), and this ILC all too easily slips to the bottom of priorities because I’m not accountable to anyone but myself.

Progress has been slow, both grueling and joyful at the same time.

I registered for the Pacific Northwest Writers’ Association (PNWA) conference happening in July, and had to do a bit of research on the agents and editors who’ll be present. It’s an exciting and terrifying prospect. I’m sure I’ll talk about it in much more detail next quarter, as attending said conference will be part of my next ILC.

I also received my dad’s next book in the mail, which always makes me happy. Did you know my dad was a novelist? It’s a pretty cool thing to have in common. Check it out over at The Book of Drachma. The latest installment, The Healer’s Defense, is now sitting on my bookshelf next to the first trilogy, taunting me, waiting for me to have enough time to read for pleasure.

I finally made myself do an outline for the essay I’ll be writing. Research is still the most fun part. Favorite article of the week is Demanding the Impossible: Walidah Imarisha Talks About Science Fiction and Social Change. It’s about her new anthology, Octavia’s Brood, which “collects fiction from 23 political activists and organizers. The writers use science fiction, fantasy, and horror to reflect on the experiences of oppression, the challenges of resistance, and the possibility of new just worlds.”I want to get this book into my hands now and devour it and hang out with everyone who created it.